beautiful in and out
by WyldClaw
Summary: takes place during sunset after the badger attack. Whitewing (then whitepaw) and brightheart have a heart to heart talk about cloudtail. one shot . bright heart/cloudtail hints


Beautiful outside and in by WyldClaw

Plot: what did Whitewing (then Whitepaw) and Brightheart talk about when they were collecting herbs for Leafpool in sunset? Don't own anyone or daisy would be back at the horseplace. This is in Whitepaw's POV. Please read and review. Thanks. Oh yeah I made up the part about Shrewpaw having the bellyache and Swiftpaw having a temper and about Brightheart using her techniques to help train the apprentices.

AAAAAAAAA

I nervously followed my ginger and white mother Brightheart out of camp. after the badger attack I was worried about any other creatures attacking my new home. I noticed that she seemed to be a hurry to get away from there as fast as she could. I padded up to her good side. "Brightheart, what kind of herbs are we looking for?"

She purred gently. "Well, Whitepaw, Leafpool needs to restock up on her supplies. Do you remember what watermint looks like?"

"Um" I thought hard as we reached the edge of the lake . A memory came to me of the old camp when Shrewpaw had a bellyache and Cinderpelt was teaching Leafpool about the herbs. "Isn't watermint a green leafy plant used for belly aches?"

She licked my cheek. "That's right."

"I remember that cause I stopped in to see how Shrewpaw was doing after he had that stomach-ache back in the old forest". The memory of my best friend stung me like a bee-sting . I miss him so much. Brightheart knew what I was thinking and motioned with her tail for me to sit down next to her. "You miss him a lot don't you?" she sighed

I nodded. "It comes and goes. I haven't thought about him in a while but ..."

My mom brushed her tail against my fur. "It's okay to miss someone but you have to remember that they are watching over you in StarClan . It's been seasons and seasons but I still miss swiftpaw "

I knew that mom had lost him in the dog attack that took her eye and ear when she was an apprentice " I remember when you were born I saw his spirit or something like it give me a big smile" she sighed at the memory. "And when we were traveling on the Great Journey, there were times that I didn't think I could go on from lack of food and I heard Shrewpaw giving me encouragement in my ear"

"I know it's tough Whitepaw but you just have to think of the happy times with them. " she purred. "Shrewpaw and Swiftpaw are probably watching us from StarClan, wanting us to be happy."

My whiskers twitched and I managed a little smile " That's true he wouldn't want me to be sad . I can't just hear him now" I lowered my voice and imitated him, "don't cry Whitepaw. You know that the Clan needs you more than ever in this new territory cause you're one of the only apprentices . You got to make sure Cloudtail doesn't claw any one's ears off"

Brightheart chuckled . "That's true. Your father has such a short temper. It's a good thing that you didn't get his tongue. "

I twitched my whiskers in amusement –Cloudtail had perhaps the sharpest tongue in all of ThunderClan. Thornclaw j said, obviously not within father's hearing that between fight with a badger and a fight Cloudtail, the fight with Cloudtail would be worse. "Don't make me blush. Brackenfur says that I got you and father's tracking abilities. He says that I'm a great hunter"

"Well, then let's test your hunting skills" . she winked at me. We got up. " Pretend that the watermint is a piece of prey and let me know when you find some. I'll look for mallow"

I nodded, proud to show off my hunting skills. I crouched down to the ground and moved forward on my belly, alert for any sounds. My white pelt didn't exactly blend in with the green grass. _Why couldn't it be leaf-bare? Or snowing_ I silently thought. I moved as quietly as I could, pretending that the plant was a mouse. A light breeze ruffled my fur and I caught a familiar minty smell.

_Gotcha!_ I thought as I quickened my pace. A huge patch of the plant was on a little cliff overlooking the lake. I padded up to the plant and breathed in the smell. Carefully I bit off a few leaves as many leaves as I could by their stems and carried them in my mouth. Even though the watermint smell was in my nose, I could still make out my mother's scent not too far away. I followed her scent but as I did I heard her softly mewing to herself .

I found her about four rabbit hops away. She was in a little clearing and I noticed that she had clawed the dirt really hard and was talking to herself. I caught the names "Cloudtail & daisy" in her voice. I knew right away what was going on. _Poor mom_ I thought.

I placed the precious watermint leaves down and padded up to her. "Brightheart, are you okay."

She turned to face me, her good eye wet. "No, dear, I'm not." We sat back down. "It's your father"

"You don't like that he's spending time with Daisy not you?" I cut to the point.. I knew what was going on.

She nodded. "It's just, well. What if he doesn't love me any more? Me, the scarred one-eyed ugly she cat"

"Don't say that about yourself, Brightheart . You're not ugly, you're a beautiful cat both on the inside and out " I told her.

Even though she only had one eye and one ear, she was still lovely. She looked at me, tears in her eyes. ' "thanks Whitepaw. But what does it matter if Cloudtail hates me?"

"You're the key to his heart. Why would father dislike you?"

She sighed. "He's so into that stupid horseplace cat that he seems to have forgotten all about me. That stupid piece of fox-dung" she spat at the ground. "Is it because she isn't scarred?" she sobbed.

I nuzzled her fur. "Don't cry mother, I'm sure Cloudtail will come around sooner or later"

She sighed. " but she's beautiful on the inside and the outside unlike me" she spat at the ground.

I rubbed my pelt against hers. " don't say that- you are beautiful on the inside and out. Who helped Ferncloud take care of Spiderleg and Shrewpaw when they were kits?" She blushed. I remembered something I had heard from the other warriors. " you were able to use the new fighting moves in the BloodClan battle"

She chuckled. "you should have seen it Whitepaw. I think the BloodClan cats were just as impressed with my moves as the other Lion Clan cats. I helped Sorreltail, Sootfur and Rainwhisker's mentors by helping them out in the training hollow with them. "

"I'm sure they really appreciated it."

She looked down at me. "I'm sure they did, Whitepaw. When I was helping them out I saw Cloudtail" her eye went misty at the sound of his name, "looking at me like I was the only she-cat in the world. He said that he was so proud to be my mate. The look on his face when Cinderpelt said he was going to be a father was wonderful. I thought his yowl of happiness was going to reach the WindClan camp."

"don't worry Brightheart" I purred " just think of the good times with Cloudtail when you see him with her"

she licked my cheek. " thanks, dear. It's just hurts really badly when I see him with her. Even when we were recuperating after the badger attack, he gave her herbs when we actually did the fighting. "

"You were wonderful in that battle" I commented. "If I were those badgers I would have run away as fast as I could"

She purred with delight. "You weren't bad yourself."

"If Brambleclaw hadn't told that badger was Midnight I would have shredded her fur. Do you think Cinderpelt's spirit saw me fight?" I looked at the sky. Somewhere up there was my aunt. "I'm sure she did" Brightheart reassured me. "Along with Swiftpaw"

We sat in silence for a while. Both us missed our best friends and family who were taken way too soon-for me Shrewpaw, Swiftpaw for her, Cinderpelt for both of us. . I licked her cheek. "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't worry about dad. I'm sure he'll come around. After all, you're one of the kindest, bravest she cats in ThunderClan and an amazing fighter. If he doesn't realize what he's missing , then he's nothin … but- but an empty headed mouse-brained fox-dung furball" I ended She chuckled at my insult and I joined in . I looked at her- I didn't see why Cloudtail was even bothering with daisy when he had Brightheart.

She purred with amusement As she licked me. "Thanks, sweetheart. You've made me feel lots better. "

She got up and I followed suit. There was that familiar twinkle back in her eye again. "I think Swiftpaw would have liked you"

"Really?"

"I'm sure" She nodded. "he had a stubborn streak but once he got an idea into his head, he didn't let go."

"he must have given Goldenflower a tough time when he was a kit"

"probably. Speaking of kits, Have you seen Sorreltail's kits yet?"

I shook my head. "I've heard that they are beautiful"

"Brackenfur's so proud of them. I think that he's going to make a wonderful father"

I nodded in agreement. "They both deserve some happiness in their lives because of Cinderpelt and Sootfur dying."

"I heard that she named one of them after Cinderpelt"

a smile grew across my mother's face. "That's wonderful of her to do that. "

"Let's go visit them after we bring the watermint to Leafpool. " She noticed my pile of water mint. "Great StarClan, Whitepaw! Did you find that by yourself?"

I beamed, "sure did. There's a big patch of it right near the bank. I'll show it to you" I picked up my pile and padded in the direction of the plant.

The end . Author's notes: so what do you think of it? Should I do a separate piece about Whitepaw asking her uncle Brackenfur what to do about the daisy/Brightheart/Cloudtail problem


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